Hai’s family has been sponsored by Dieu Khong Pagoda. Nun Giai Nghiem and Dieu Khong Buddhists have organized to welcome Hai’s family to Canada

First 9 people arrive in Canada

Family of Huỳnh Ngọc Đạt and Huỳnh Thị Bé

Applicant’s Background:

Name: Nguyen Thi Thanh Le

• She is a sole parent and the primary carer for her son.

Main Applicant for Skilled Worker Class Nguyen Thi Thanh Le and her accompanying son Nguyen Thi Thanh Tony

NOTE: Several or all of the points listed below can be offered in a single letter of support by an individual or a family who is willing to do so, or they may come from various sources if necessary. It is of paramount importance that these applicants are able to demonstrate resettlement/integration ability.

Matching points

Nguyen Thi Thanh Le

(Skills: Has worked as a merchandiser/businesswoman for the past 10 years, buying and selling clothing and accessories in the Philippines)

• Will need letters of support from individual(s) offering the following:
• A job offer, preferably in a retail sales/business capacity, or doing business with Vietnamese clients. Other possibilities: working the cash register in a Vietnamese business or restaurant, babysitting/caring for children, waitressing, etc. If no job offers in these areas can be found, it would still be very helpful to submit a letter of support offering job training for other professions, e.g. doing nails, etc.
• Someone to teach her to drive/drive her to work/show her bus routes
• Time/services as an English tutor
• A place to stay or for someone to help her find housing
• Someone to pick her and her son up from the airport when they arrive in Canada.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Tony (10 years old)

Will need letters of support from individual(s) offering the following:

• Help Tony enroll in an elementary school
• Time/services as an English tutor
• An assurance that there will be someone to look after him or pick him up from school while his mom is at work

Liên Hội Người Việt Canada Vietnamese Canadian Federation
Fédération vietnamienne du Canada
249 Rochester Street Ottawa, ON; K1R 7M9 CANADA
Tel.: (613) 230-8282; Fax: (613) 230-8281; Email: vietfederation@bellnet.ca
Website: www.vietfederation.ca

Coordinating Committee
for the Sponsorship of Vietnamese Refugees in the Philippines
Project Freedom at Last

News Update
(August 21, 2007)

Summary

Early last month, the Vietnamese Canadian Federation (VCF), through its charitable affiliate, the Vietnamese Canadian Centre, set up the Coordinating Committee for the Sponsorship of Vietnamese Refugees in the Philippines (Project Freedom at Last) to help 161 stateless Vietnamese, who were stranded in the Philippines since 1988, apply for admission to Canada. This followed the announcement of the special “humanitarian and compassionate consideration” policy by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada on May 10.  So far, the Committee has been able to make the following progress:

-Fund raising: CAD: 43,081.00 and USD 2,101.00 in which about 60% was for the general fund, and 40% was for two community support groups in Ottawa.

-Establishment of local community support groups to help 52 families and individuals in their application for admission to Canada.

At present, there are still 32 cases in which the stateless Vietnamese have relatives in Canada but they cannot be sponsored by their relatives due to the lack of documentations on family relationships.  The Coordinating Committee is working with religious organizations, other Vietnamese associations as well as volunteers across Canada to set up community support groups to help these people in their application process.
____________________________________________________________________________
 
1.New Developments

The Project Freedom at Last has received extensive coverage by Canadian and international media after the June 27 announcement by Vietnamese Canadian Federation to establish the Coordinating Committee for the Sponsorship of Vietnamese Refugees in the Philippines.

On July 3rd, the Toronto Star published an article on the situation of the Vietnamese in the Philippines and the efforts made by the Vietnamese community in Canada to help them settle in this country. Subsequently, Thoi Bao -- the largest Vietnamese newspaper in Canada -- featured an interview with the Project Leader in which the details on the project were given.  Several radio networks in the U.S. (SBTN; RFA – Radio Free Asia; VOA; Tieng Nuoc Toi, Houston), France (RFI), Australia (SBS), and Canada (Lac Viet, Vancouver) followed with their own stories.

The representatives of the Coordinating Committee also met with the Chief of Staff of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and kept close contact with the staff of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), to gather the details regarding the implementation of the new policy.

2. Achievements

a/ Fund Raising

As of August 21, the Coordinating Committee has been able to raise CAD 43,081.00 and USD 2,101.00.  These sums have been deposited in separate accounts dedicated to this project. They were allocated as follows:

-CAD 26,356.00 and USD 1,386.00 for the general fund;
-CAD 16,725.00 and USD 715.00 were earmarked for two community support groups in Ottawa (Dieu Khong Pagoda and New Horizon)

The Hoa Nghiem Pagoda in Vancouver will contribute CAD 50,000.00. 

In addition, in an effort to reduce the financial burden to the asylum seekers and their community support groups, the President of the Vietnamese Canadian Federation has written to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to ask her to give loans to all the applicants to cover the processing fees and the transportation costs of their trips from the Philippines to Canada, if they are admitted for settlement here.   The Federation undertakes to reimburse to the government the loans for the processing fees of those who are denied admission, and therefore will not come to Canada.

So far, the Federation hasn’t received the Minister’s response yet.
 
b/ Formation of Community Support Groups

As stipulated in the policy announced by the Minister on May 10, the application for admission of Vietnamese asylum seekers in the Philippines will be processed on a case-by-case basis, based on “humanitarian and compassionate consideration”.  Their application will be stronger if they are either sponsored by their relatives in Canada or if they are assisted by community support groups. Therefore, over the last 2 months, the Federation has encouraged its member associations, religious organizations, and volunteers in the Vietnamese community in Canada to form “community support groups” to assist the asylum seekers in their application and to help them settle in Canada if they are admitted to this country. A number of meetings have been held across Canada to discuss this issue:

Ottawa: June 21 and July 28;
Montréal: August 4;
Toronto: August 9;
Calgary, Edmonton: August 12.

At present many organizations and newly established community support groups have agreed to assist a number of stateless Vietnamese families and individuals as follows:

Montréal: 1
Ottawa: 15
Toronto: 10
Hamilton: 1
Saskatoon: 2
Calgary: 4
Edmonton: 8
Vancouver: 11

Total: 52 

c/ Administrative Procedure

With the assistance of VOICE (Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment) -- VCF’s partner in this project based in Washington, D.C. -- the Coordinating Committee prepared 4 documents to be included in the asylum seekers’ application: Community Support Letter, Offer of Accommodation, Offer of Employment, and VCF’s Support Services.

The first three documents have been sent to community support groups for completion and the fourth one has been forwarded to VOICE for including in the applications. 

The Coordinating Committee has also started to send out tax receipts to over 200 contributors who have sent their donations to the Federation.

3. Next Steps

There are currently 32 cases in which the applicants have relatives in Canada but these relatives can’t enter into a sponsorship agreement with the government to help those in the Philippines because they lack the necessary documentations on family relationships to submit to CIC.  The majority of these relatives live in Toronto and Vancouver, and to a lesser extent, in Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Smiths Falls. The Coordinating Committee is working with VCF member associations, other organizations, and volunteers in the Vietnamese communities in these cities and elsewhere to form community support groups to help the applicants.

The Coordinating Group continues to raise funds for its activities.  Donations can be sent by cheques or money orders (the mailing of cash is to be avoided). They can be made payable to Vietnamese Canadian Centre / Project Freedom at last, and sent to the address given below:

Vietnamese Canadian Centre
249 Rochester St.
Ottawa, ON
K1R 7M9
Canada

Donations of CAD/USD 5.00 or above will be issued a tax receipt which can be used in either Canada or the U.S.

To avoid possible misdirection of the donations, contributors are asked to send them directly to the above address or through reliable local organizations.   Donations form the U.S. or elsewhere can be sent to Ottawa or to VOICE’s office in Washington, D.C., c/o its representatives, lawyers Hoi Trinh or Lisa Nguyen (1802 S St. N.W., Washington D.C. 20009 U.S.A.)

Can D. Le
Project Leader, Freedom at Last

Date of dissemination: August 21, 2007
 

FAMILIES HAVE BEEN SPONSORED BY OTTAWA COMMUNITY

Name: Ngo Van Son

Location: Manila, Philippines

Age: 34

Hometown: Huong Thuy, Hue, Vietnam

Occupation: Street Vendor

History

Son was born in Vietnam in 1973.

Son’s father was a former Second Lieutenant for the Republican of Vietnam. For this reason, in 1975, his father was imprisoned for three years.

In 1978, Son was forced to move to a New Economic Zone. Here his family endured harsh conditions, living without access to clean drinking water, food rations and was regularly exposed to malaria. Both Son’s parents died in a car accident in 1988, when he was only fifteen year old.

Without family in Vietnam, Son fled Vietnam at age sixteen. He arrived in the Philippines in February 1991, and has remained stateless since.

Life in the Philippines

As a stateless person, Son is restricted from accessing legal employment. He has survived in the Philippines for the last sixteen years working as an illegal street vendor. He survives on a very low wage, having only enough money to provide for his day to day living expenses.

Business is very tough, and Son’s work as a vendor no longer returns the profits it used to. In 2004, Son was forced to pay a police officer a bribe, to avoid imprisonment for selling goods on the street.

Ngo would like to sell retail items in a store, or be a waiter in a restaurant.

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Name: Nguyen Dang Hai

Location: Mindanao, Philippines

Age: 40

Hometown: Nha trang, Khanh hoa, Vietnam

Occupation: Fisherman

History

Nguyen Dang Hai was born in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa, Vietnam in 1967.

Hai’s father was a soldier in the South Vietnamese Army. After 1975, his father was sent to a re-education camp where his family property was confiscated and they were sent to a New Economic Zone. There, Hai was denied access to an education.

When Hai fled Vietnam, his boat suffered engine troubles during the voyage. The journey from Vietnam to the Philippines lasted ten days, and many people on board collapsed from hunger. Hai arrived in the Philippines in October 1991, and has remained a stateless person ever since.

Life in the Philippines

Hai lives in the mountains in Davao on the island of Mindanao. Without a social security paper or legal identification, Hai is denied from accessing legal employment. He works with a rod and reel as a fisherman, selling his fish in the local marketplace. He earns a very low income that is barely enough to provide for himself.

As a stateless person, Hai is subject to discrimination. In the past, Hai has been required to report to the local Filipino authorities, who demand to see his paperwork. On five occasions, the local police have detained him for operating a business without documentation. Hai lives in daily fear of arbitrary arrest on account of his statelessness.

Hai clutches onto the dream of settling in Canada, and gaining citizenry rights. He would like to be a mechanic, or a farmer or driver upon his resettlement to Canada.

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